Tag: Visual Studio

Teamstream and its clients have a problem understanding the content inside their video libraries—a problem not just for them, but for everyone who uses traditional methods of archiving and retrieving videos. A video is typically created by a team, indifferently tagged, and saved out to a file in some repository—a file server or a cloud-based shared service like YouTube. In both cases, the videos are stored in a folder structure which is organized by client and by project. This type of methodology is extremely limiting when searching for particular videos. What is the job number? Which client was that? Did we do similar videos? Is this the right version? The difficulty multiplies when you want to search for specific content within videos. If a video is not tagged or named correctly—which is often the case—it can be impossible to find what you’re looking for. Teamstream Productions was looking for a “fix” that offered deep searching capabilities within a set of videos, a fix that would be accessible through multiple channels so that if the team is on the go or giving a presentation, they can access this search through mobile or web. Read more “Cognitive Services Computer Vision API powers Teamstream video search”

Aon is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. To effectively manage inquiries from Aon’s customers regarding common frequently asked questions, a bot was designed to facilitate this need. Using Microsoft Azure Web App Services to host the bot application and the Microsoft Bot Framework to provide the communication channel between the client and Aon back end API’s, a solution was created to solve this problem during a visit to the Microsoft Chicago office by members of the Aon Development team and the Microsoft Developer Experience team. Read more “Hackfest leads to improving customer service for AON using the Bot Framework”

In part one we did the setup. Part two we did the coding. Now we will continue some of the coding but also start looking at some configuration options.

Step 1: More Services

Lets finish up the rest of the services. We are basically mimicking what we just did for the Occasions API call for the Results and Details. If we look at the API we find the endpoint to get all drinks by occasion is /drinks/for/occasion_id. We have a route that mimics that /drinks/:filter/:id We can use this route, controller and service over and over again by changing the filter based on what we want returned. Read more “Building Cross Platform Apps with Visual Studio – Part 3”

Lets reset a bit on our project. We are starting to look at building an app that will be able to run on iOS, Android and Windows. There are a couple of ways to doing this, natively or cross platform approach. If we were to build a native app for 3 platforms we would have to code in 3 different languages and use 3 different IDE’s. (Not counting a tool like Xamarin). We are also looking at the multiple stack developer who has a lot of “web” knowledge. They know how to build web apps and their skills can translate well to this cross platform development. We will be using HTML and JavaScript to build this app. Most importantly, we will be using Visual Studio to create our cross platform app.

The app can be anything, but in this example it is a drink recipe app. Categories -> Results -> Details. That is the flow of our app. We will be using a theme from Bootstrap to make it look pretty and responsive for multiple screen sizes. AngularJS will be our JavaScript MVC Framework for the back-end. We left off with a basic “barebones” app structure that we will build upon.

Lets Begin

If you don’t know it already, mobile apps are all the rage. From social networking to pictures and videos to gaming, the app ecosystem is where you want to be. But what if you are a “one-stack” developer? What if you only know HTML/JavaScript? What if your expertise lies in Web Development? Well, they all have their challenges but over the next few articles I will try to demystify the mobile development process especially when it comes to cross platform development. The “one-stack” developer has is a bit easier. They know what the hardware will be. They know the screen size and capabilities of the device. They can reuse code over and over again and create some high quality apps. The “multiple-stack” developer has an advantage as well. They know how to code for multiple platforms. They know what may or may not be possible for each of the platforms. Lets look at the “stacks” and define them a bit.

I got an Intel Edison with a breakout kit along with a SeeedStudio IoT kit. Getting the Edison up and running was straightfoward but once that was complete the next step was “what to build?”. How abut a temperature app? Or a sound sensor? Or a blinking light. None of those thrilled me. Plus I wanted to do something totally different. I am more of an “app” guy so I started thinking about ‘apps’ that can communicate with the Edison. What can I send over to the Edison? Hmmm.

So I started where I always start for brainstorming app ideas, Programmable Web and Mashery. I scoured their listing of API’s to find one that jumped out at me. I did find one. The Absolut Vodka Drink Recipe DB. I can get drink recipes and send them to the LCD screen. This could come in handy instead of fumbling through a recipe book, or even an app. Have the LCD attached to either the shaker or the base and scroll through the steps needed to make the drink.

The new release of ASP.NET and Web Tools for Visual Studio 2013 puts the power to build cutting-edge websites right at your fingertips. Even better? Once you build a beautiful, interactive site, you can easily deploy and scale it with Microsoft Azure!

Join us for a free WebCamp and learn how to elevate your coding – in just one day. WebCamps are live, no-fluff events created for developers, by developers. You’ll learn from lively, informative experts who start with the basics and ramp up to advanced topics as the day goes on. Here are some of the topics we’ll cover in these hands-on sessions:

Introduction to ASP.NET and Visual Studio 2013 Web Tooling

Building web applications using the latest ASP.NET technologies

Building web front ends for both desktop and mobile using the latest web standards

API Services for both web and devices

Running, improving and maintaining a site in the real world

Real-time communications with SignalR

Don’t miss this free opportunity to sharpen your coding skills – regardless of which languages or platforms you use. We speak them all. We’ll also give away a $100 Microsoft Store gift card to one lucky attendee at each event! You must be present to win.*

Why should I participate?

The Game Developer Conference is the world’s largest and longest-running professionals-only games conference, where 24,000 interactive games amateurs, professionals and luminaries exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry each year. It’s your opportunity to get immersed in the world of the professional gaming industry, network, learn about the latest technologies, and create job opportunities for when you graduate. And of course, have a lot of fun.

Get started

Build a game using at least one Microsoft platform (yes, desktop games count!). You can also port an existing one to the Microsoft platforms. We have tools and resources to help you do that!

Fill out the submission form to enter the contest

Get users to like your entry on Facebook toincrease your chances of winning. How? Once you have submitted your game to the contest, you will receive an email providing instructions on how to find a Facebook post about your submission posted by the //GameOn Contest Facebook page.

Download Visual Studio Professional 2013 FOR FREE and enter a chance to win an Xbox One Titanfall Edition!

By using Visual Studio Professional 2013, you can deliver quality applications on Windows, Office, Windows Phone, the web, or the cloud. When you combine it with Windows 8.1, you’ll be able to build Windows Store apps. It’s a great way to be prepared for that summer internship, or for your new job after graduation. Best of all, it’s FREE to download as a DreamSpark member.

Go here to learn how you can earn a chance to win 1 of 20 Xbox One Titanfall editions. Act fast – the offer ends June 15th!